Houck, Joseph Lawson trial wraps up for Day 5

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Amber Bowman, who dated Nick Houck for seven to eight years and lived with him in Glenview for a couple of those years, testified Tuesday about the events surrounding the weekend of Crystal Rogers’ disappearance.

She said she and Nick were preparing to move into a fixer-upper and had to be out of their current place by Monday. But on the morning of July 3, Nick told her he needed to leave and help his brother, Brooks Houck, with a rental property. Amber admitted she was upset, and her father ended up helping her with the move that Friday and Saturday morning.

Amber said she tried calling Nick 15 times between the late morning of July 3 and the evening of July 4. His phone was off the entire time, which she said was unusual for him. The defense noted she previously told the FBI that Nick sometimes worked late on home renovations as part of his job as an evening patrol officer.

Phone Records and Key Communications

Melissa Dover, a crime analyst with the Elizabethtown Police Department, presented phone records for several people connected to the case. She highlighted frequent communication between Tammy Lawson, Brooks Houck, and Steve Lawson from May 12 to July 8 — which abruptly stopped after July 8.

The last text Crystal Rogers received was at 7:06 p.m. on July 3.

There were also a flurry of calls between Joey Lawson, Steve Lawson, Brooks Houck, and Tammy Lawson from late on July 3 into the early hours of July 4:

• Joey called his dad at 11:06 p.m. (no answer)

• Joey called Tammy at 11:07 p.m.

• Joey tried his dad again at 11:54 p.m.

• He called Tammy once more at 11:58 p.m.

• Steve called Joey at 12:01 a.m. and again at 12:05 a.m., with the second call lasting nearly 3 minutes

• Steve called Brooks at 12:09 a.m. for 15 seconds

• Joey called Steve at 12:43 a.m. (nearly 2 minutes)

• Tammy called Steve at 1:08 a.m. (nearly 4 minutes)

The defense also pointed out that Tammy and Steve Lawson made additional early-morning calls — including to Capital One, the lender for a car Steve shared with his ex-girlfriend Heather Sneller.

Phone records showed several unanswered texts and missed calls to Brooks Houck following Crystal’s disappearance. These included texts from Crystal’s daughter Kylie, missed calls from Kathy Fenwick, and an answered call from Brooks’ mother Rosemary Houck. That was followed by more unanswered texts from Crystal’s daughters, Tori and Ashley.

The defense emphasized that Brooks did try to contact Crystal on the morning of July 5 — calling her at 6:40 a.m. and again at 9:00 a.m. — as well as calling her cousin, Sabrina.

Eyewitness Accounts

Multiple witnesses said they saw Crystal’s vehicle between the evening of July 3 and the morning of July 4 along the Bluegrass Parkway. Witnesses included the Hardin County coroner, a Dollar General manager, and a Lowe’s employee.

Other Key Testimony

The state also called several hobbyist raccoon hunters, who testified they saw a white Buick parked late at night on the Ballard farm. The vehicle was later identified as belonging to Anna Whiteside, Nick and Brooks’ mother. The car was sold in Louisville, and investigators later found a strand of hair in the trunk that matched Crystal Rogers at the molecular level.

Keith Stivers, a sales manager at Sternberg Automotive who’s been with the company since 1986, testified that Nick Houck specifically requested no one enter the vehicle before it was sold.

Finally, Francis Holt, the paternal aunt of Nick and Brooks Houck, testified that Nick and his mother Anna were very close. She said Anna would often lend Nick the Buick and that he had access to her home to fix things and a spare key to the vehicle.